Ambala is a major grain, cotton, and sugar trade centre and is connected by road and rail with Delhi (south) and Amritsar (northwest; Punjab state). Other rail lines run northward to Chandigarh, Shimla, and Kalka and southeastward to Saharanpur. Economically important industries include cotton ginning, flour milling, food processing, and various manufactures. Cloth weaving and bamboo furniture making are important handicrafts. Constituted a municipality in 1867, the city has a hospital, a government metalworks institute, and several colleges affiliated with Kurukshetra University.

The surrounding area is composed predominantly of a fertile alluvial plain. There is some canal irrigation, and grains, gram (chickpeas), cotton, sugarcane, peanuts (groundnuts), and mangoes are the chief crops. One of India’s largest military cantonments, which also houses a commercial centre and an airfield, lies just to the southeast. Pop. (2001) 139,279; (2011) 195,153.

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